Is this the End or The End is Nigh

[excollier]

What is sky?? I go outside, look up and there it is, free to all with eyes, in glorious HD, 3D!!

[rigsby71]

According to the link in post 1 it will be implemented on all HD boxes eventually. The ones that will get it first are the Amstrad DXR890/895.

These models have been issued to customers for the past 3 years up to the present day.

No mention of the Thomson boxes though.

I wonder if they have just given up on those & will just let them be , as it were, as there are probably not that many around now & it might not be worth the hassle for them.

[sakiblateef]

At present their main aim is to stop piracy on the HD channels. They may offer a free upgrade to those customers who have Thomson receivers or refuse them access to HD channels unless they upgrade.

It's hard to say at the moment which approach they will take with regards to older models.

[micflair]

On reading the detail on the picture, it applies to new customers having fresh installs right? So how will this go about pairing old customers cards/boxes?

[digicon]

On reading the detail on the picture, it applies to new customers having fresh installs right? So how will this go about pairing old customers cards/boxes?

You will probably receive an email like this:

Here at Sky, we're working on improving our services for you. Right now, we're getting ready to carry out a security update to your Sky box. However, we're missing some important information that will allow us to do this.


The information we need .
We need you to give us some details about your Sky box, which will allow us to update it correctly. If we're unable to do this you may lose access to some of your channels. To make sure that doesn't happen, please follow the simple steps below. They'll tell you how you can get this information to us ? it's easy to do and won't take long.


1. Press Services on your Sky remote
2. Go to Settings
3. Go to System Details
4. Make a note of your
o Version Number
o Serial Number
o Viewing Card Number
o Receiver ID
(Note that not every Sky Box has a receiver ID, if yours doesn't then you don't need to do anything at this time)
5. Go to skyviewinghelp.com to give us these details. The website is shown on the right so you can check you are in the right place.


If you do not provide these details to us ? your services will stop working properly.


If you are unable to use the website you can provide us with your details by calling 08442 411 189.


What happens next?
Once we've got this information, we'll update your Sky box for you. It'll happen automatically so you won't even notice and you can carry on watching Sky TV as usual.


Thank you for helping us update your Sky box.


The Sky Team

There is no Escape

[seamouse]

but if just got a account like me, maybe ok

[micflair]

but if just got a account like me, maybe ok

Wow, that `email' is very detailed..

So why do you think you might be `ok' then?

[mdt]

same thing has happened with csat france,digitalb,digiturk... the sat game is fluent and always has been and we can thank the big north african,eastern europe p********s and bread heads on e***,regards mdt

[TheCoder]

Sly's ultimate aim, as stated in one of their myriad press releases, is to convert all of their channels to HD and then dump SD. This wont affect non sky channels but i'd expect the more popular ones to be considering doing likewise due to the encryption advantages.

The main advantage is that HD boxes have much more modern chipsets which usually include some extra secure circuitry for key processing (sly have actually specified their own circuitry options to chipset manufacturers). This circuitry can effectively act as an extra invisible 'smartcard' layer. The keys/algorithms are totally hidden within the processor silicon so are never exposed in external memory or busses. These attributes make the functionality perfect for box/card authentication (pairing) functions.

I'd expect sly to be heavily pushing HD boxes as replacements to SD boxes soon enough (rather than for new customers) and no doubt they'll end up giving them away for 'free' (nothing is ever really free with sky)eventually to the last few SD die-hards.

I have doubts that the new pairing scheme will occur on any SD boxes (certainly not the earlier ones) as the process could not be hidden so would be reversed within days.

[ITS A SCAM !]

When and if it does eventually happen, I recon some Eastern dodgy box manufacturers in will be paying script kings & coders megabucks to come up with a workaround if sly implement the new changes all over the UK. I cannot see these box manufacturers just sitting there and letting their stock and staff become redundant. I think a solution will be forthcoming rather quickly afterwards.... I am not worried at all.

[nathan2007]

totally agree with its a scam too many people manufacture boxes and make big money, security is only as good as its coder and there are a lot of good coders around .......

[Rodbouy]

That's my point in the high price of sat boxes. If all major cards were unusable how would vu and deam justify such a high end cost.

Ppl moan because the Chinese clone them. But vu and dream feed off cs.

It's a cat and mouse game.

[micflair]

When and if it does eventually happen, I recon some Eastern dodgy box manufacturers in will be paying script kings & coders megabucks to come up with a workaround if sky implement the new changes all over the UK. I cannot see these box manufacturers just sitting there and letting their stock and staff become redundant. I think a solution will be forthcoming rather quickly afterwards.... I am not worried at all.

Same as what I was thinking, all the independent box makers will be in bother if Sky cards cant be used in there boxes. I think this will be a major priority for them to crack this new pairing otherwise it will have a massive effect on there business.

[lincsat]

I think you're over-estimating the importance of the UK market. If just the HD channels get blocked in the UK, that won't make much, if any, difference to the big box makers. If all NDS gets blocked worldwide, then that would make a difference

[blueflash234]

did they not do somehing like that with nova where you could not get the hd channels or was that fixed